The words of Mistry, who completes four years at the helm in December, were not lost on Tata insiders present at the event that day. In an interview to an in-house website in September 2016, he had emphasised on the need to confront the challenging situations faced by the group.

A group wide diagnostic culture study is being undertaken in which most leading Tata companies are participating. The purpose of the study is to understand the culture as perceived, experienced and felt by our people across the organisational hierarchy.

“Over the past two months, we have been discussing details of the framework with group companies for deliberation and adoption by their boards,” said NS Rajan, group chief human resources officer at Tata Sons.

In fact, segment leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp have reported de-growth of 34.3 per cent, 45 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively giving a clear indication of a prolonged slowdown in the sector.